Many improvements have been made in the delivery of mail via electronic means in recent years. Numerous systems have been developed which electronically deliver mail from one city to another via satellite, cable, or microwave. In general, however, these systems have been limited to the type in which the information to be mailed must be initially converted from human readable form into electronic signals. In electronic form, the information or messages may be transmitted over some telecommunications medium to a remote location where it is then reconverted into human readable form. The transmitted information is then finally delivered to the addressee or ultimate receiver in hard copy or other human readable form such as on a CRT screen. It seems clear that any advantage of such systems in speed of delivery is limited or offset by the need to convert from and then reconvert to human readable forms of communication. Even in current systems where the information is generated in electronic form, such as on a word processor, and transmitted in electronic form, the cost of receiving and output equipment can be prohibitively expensive: on the order of several thousand dollars.
Many private residences and businesses currently have access to cable television (CATV) networks. Furthermore, most homes and businesses have access to at least one telephone communications system. These telephone and television systems provide a direct access to millions of locations from a small number of centralized locations.
A large bulk of mail today is computer generated invoices, letters, etc. A great deal of time and handling may be saved if the computer generated information is transmitted electronically to the ultimate addressee and then converted into human readable form. Not only would such a system realize postage and handling cost savings, but would also provide the added benefit of reducing the load on our overburdened postal system.
Existing cable TV networks, telephone systems, or other communications media which have direct access to homes and businesses provide a readily available electronic link for transmitting many types of information directly to a large number of addressees. What has been needed to complete a true electronic information dissemination system is the means to efficiently collect electronic information signals from various sources, the means to efficiently and effectively process it for transmittal over an available communications network, and low cost means at the ultimate destinations for receiving the electronic information and converting it into usable form.